Barista Magazine

APR-MAY 2018

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89
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POSITIVE
CHANGE
IN
NEGATIVE
TIMES
@queerwavecoffee
www.queerwavecoffee.info
goal. Zack expects the same to be true
in coffee.
Between 2016 and 2017, fi eld trials of
these strains were conducted at coffee
farms in Tanzania, Laos, Nicaragua,
Mexico, India, and Brazil by Laurent
Berthiot, coffee specialist with Lalle-
mand who previously worked with CI-
RAD, the French agricultural research
and international cooperation organiza-
tion for sustainable development of trop-
ical and Mediterreanan regions. After
extensive trials in which Laurent varied
everything from the coffee processing
to the duration of soak, the quantity of
coffee to the amount of mucilage, all
trials were sampled and sent back to
Lallemand's lab for cupping according
to Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)
protocols. Some of the most signifi cant
fi ndings included improvement to low-
grown Arabicas and Robustas.
Laurent also kept notes on farmer
feedback, such as challenges with the
suggested temperature parameters (for
example, in Tanzania all water must be
heated by wood fi re, which presents dif-
fi culties), and faster demucilagination.
LalCafé's three yeast strains were
developed to optimize and enhance the
best characteristics of coffees. For ex-
ample, Cima enhances brightness and
citrus notes, while Intenso is all about
mouthfeel, fl oral aromas, and tropical
fruit notes. Oro is the most dexterous
in that it is recommended for a broad
range of climates and varieties, and is
also especially effi cient time-wise with
full demuciliganation in less than three
hours in most conditions.
Zack sent some samples down to
Santa Ana, and Aida got right to work.
She can't even recall all the experi-
ments she's done with them, from vary-
ing soak time to playing with yeast-to-
water ratios and even temperatures.
She went so far as to try spraying it
on cherry laid out on raised beds, and
she's even played with applying the
yeast solution to cherry that is picked
by snipping the stem with scissors
rather than plucking in order to ensure
the skin stays intact. "Will the yeast
penetrate the skin, and if so, to what
end?" Aida says. "There are so many
ways we can use these yeasts—there
is so much potential in this. Yeast in-
oculation in coffee fermentation might
be the biggest thing to ever happen to
specialty coffee."
Myths about yeast inoculation in cof-
fee fermentation
• Brix
†
of coffee cherry equals ripeness (it doesn't).
• Higher Brix is always better (it's not, and
sometimes it's counter-productive)
• Inoculated fermentations are risky (they're
not).
• Selected microbes can only benefi t
lower-quality coffees (they could benefi t
any coffee).
• Using yeast is a magic bullet to increase coffee
quality (it's not).
• If we all use the same yeast or bacteria, all cof-
fee would taste the same (it wouldn't–but yeast
strains should be selected based on altitude,
cultivar, ripeness, competition, etc.).
• Selected microbes will change a producer's
profi le (they offer choice: the cup profi le can be
designed).
• Inoculated fermentations are a trend (they are
the standard in many industries)
† Degrees Brix (°Bx) indicates sugar content.
—Compiled by Lucia Solis